Angels Fall
by Young Republican
Summary: AU story. She moved to Sunnydale hoping for a chance to reinvent herself into somebody worthwhile. She planned on implementing a new motto: buds before studs. The only problem is, the studs didn't know about this plan. And soon she found herself caught in
1. Chapter 1

**Angels Fall**

Disclaimer: I don't own BTVS or any of the characters, if I did you can bet the show wouldn't have ended.

Authors Notes: This is an AU story. Buffy isn't a slayer and Spike and Angel aren't vampires (but Xander and Willow are still sort of geeks). Everything else you need to know gets explained in the story.

More Authors Notes: I started writing this story a couple years ago under a different title and the response was great but I didn't like the way it seemed rushed so I'm trying to take my time with this one. Also, while this will end the same way as my original idea, the way it starts and the way things occur is slightly different so please don't be confused. So forget the other one, enjoy this story, and let me know what you think please! (Chapter Two avail very, very soon!)

* * *

The music played slow and sexy, just fast enough so that she could move her hips in a sensual way. He stood behind her with his arms around her waist, enjoying her dancing as she moved against him. Slowly she brought her hands above her head and then down, ending at the top of her thighs. Around them people heard him groan slightly and the other couples dancing only wished they could be as sexy as they were.

Above the club, Angel watched as they danced, growing more pissed off as the song went on. He wanted nothing more then to rush down there and tear off Spike's head. The only thing that stopped him from doing so was that while watching _them_ irritated him, watching _her_ turned him on. For the time being he watched them from the second level, bittersweet when the song ended.

Buffy pulled Spike off the dance floor and took a seat on the plush couch. "Angel was watching us." She told him, glancing up at Angel and raising her eyebrows.

Spike followed her gaze and growled. "He can sod off. Of course, the way you were dancing I'm not surprised the whole club wasn't watching."

"I thought you enjoyed it." She countered, feeling a little annoyed at his seemingly jealous tone.

"I wasn't complaining, love." He told her, pulling her face to his for a kiss that Angel was sure to see. Slow and sexy, like the song they just danced to, he took his time kissing her and enjoying pissing off Angel. Behind Buffy's head he told Angel what he was thinking with his middle finger.

Breaking their kiss with a satisfied sigh Buffy said, "I've had enough of this place for tonight. I'll talk to you at school tomorrow."

"You're just going to leave me, after you danced like that?" Spike faked being upset.

She kissed his forehead and grabbed her black coat. "Good night."

She made her way through the club, aware that as she was leaving Angel was right behind her. She hoped Spike stayed where he was and she looked back to find him sitting there enjoying a cigarette.

She pushed open the door and found herself in the alley, glad to breath fresh air. She started to put her coat on and stopped when she felt somebody helping her. After letting him help her she turned around and stared directly up into Angel's dark brown eyes.

"What are you doing Angel?"

"Most people say thank you." He replied, walking towards her house.

"Well that's the thing, I'm not thankful." She quickened her pace, knowing damn well it wouldn't make a difference. Instead of taking a hint Angel picked up the pace much to her annoyance.

"If words could kill." He smiled at her. "I wouldn't be dead, but I might be slightly hurt."

"I can only wish."

"You don't want to be mean to me tonight, sweetheart." Angel smiled at her malignantly.

"Are you sure about that?" Not one to take orders from men, or anybody for that matter, Buffy refused to back down. Though her head barely reached his shoulder, she looked him square in the eye.

"I'm positive. You wouldn't want to get hurt would you? Unless you like it like that?"

"Only in your dreams."

"Do you ever dream of me?" He asked, his eyes growing cold and his voice becoming like ice. "Do you ever dream about me holding a gun to your head? Or maybe you dream that I make sure Spike will never bother you again?"

"You're psycho." Buffy turned around and started to leave, trying not to show her fear to a man who so obviously needed to be medicated. Angel reached out for her, grabbing her upper arm and whirling her around. Buffy wasn't sure when Angel pulled the gun out of his pocket, but she knew for certain that she was staring at a very black and cold gun that no doubt held bullets. Slowly Angel raised the gun so that the cold metal of the barrel was pressed against her forehead. She couldn't hide the fear in her eyes any longer. Suddenly she could no longer feel the barrel of the gun or see Angel's cold, chocolate eyes boring into her. Instead she saw herself, six months before, when she first arrived in Sunnydale; when everything was still normal.

_6 months earlier..._

Buffy Anne Summers might look innocent, but her mother knew she wasn't. When Joyce Summers gave birth to Buffy eighteen years ago she thought she was having a little girl who would need help in growing up right and strong. It was apparent, however, by the time Buffy was five that she was very capable of taking care of herself. Joyce didn't worry about her daughter being teased by other kids, instead she would worry about getting calls from the school because Buffy had punched a bully. Instead of being the Junior prom queen last year Buffy was given an gold umbrella that represented the award of "Class Protector". It was then that Joyce finally realized her daughter was an amazing young woman who took care of herself and others; worrying was not something she needed to do any longer. It was because of this that Joyce knew uprooting her daughter and starting over in a small town would be harder on her then on Buffy. With only momentary hesitation Joyce accepted the job as curator of a museum in Sunnydale, California. Leaving behind friends, family, and a horrible ex-husband, Joyce and Buffy left Los Angeles and moved into a quaint and cozy house in a respectable neighborhood.

"Are you nervous about school tomorrow?" Joyce asked, leaning against the doorway to Buffy's bedroom.

"Why would I be?" Buffy asked, not looking up from the box of clothes she was unpacking. "Do you think I should throw this away?"

Joyce glanced at the pink sweater Buffy held. "Stick it in the back of your closet, maybe someday you'll wear it."

"You always think like that. You never throw anything away because you're afraid some day, even if it's fifty years from now, you'll want to look at it or smell it or wear it."

"Apparently you don't feel the same way. You know, I'm nervous." Joyce admitted.

"About what? Mom, you're going to be fine. I don't know how many times you need to hear it before you start believing it."

"Maybe just a few more times tonight and once tomorrow morning."

Buffy shook her head and pulled a stack of hangers from the closet. She proceeded to hang the clothes and place them in the closet in perfect order, secretly hopping her mother was done talking to her. When it became apparent that her mother wasn't leaving anytime soon, Buffy stopped what she was doing and went to her. She wrapped her arms around the older Summers in a hug. "Everything will be fine, I promise you. And if it isn't, tell me and I'll take care of it."

"I should be telling you that, I'm the mother here." Joyce let go of her daughter and looked out the window. "It's so dreary outside, maybe that's why I'm tired."

"It's a good day to sit on the couch and read a book."

"That sounds like an excellent idea. Want to join me?" Joyce started out the door, heading down the stairs to the kitchen.

Buffy followed, but not because she was going to join her mother. "Mom, please, do you I look like I'm your age? I meant it was a good day for you to read and a great day for a cute girl like me to shop. Care to make a donation to the Bank of Buffy?"

"The input only Bank of Buffy?" Joyce grabbed her wallet and pulled out a credit card she'd recently gotten as a surprise for Buffy. It had a thousand dollar limit on it and Joyce was more then happy to pay the bill every month. As far as she was concerned, nothing was to great for her daughter. She handed Buffy the card and explained the rules. "Basically there are no rules except you can't max it out at one store. I want you to buy whatever you want or need and I'll cover it at the end of the month."

"This is the kind of thing kids dream about. Are you sure you want to do this? Because I am very liable to max it out every month."

"I wouldn't expect anything less. Now you shop and I'm going to read."

Buffy kissed her mom on the cheek and was out the door before Joyce had the chance to realize the power she had just given her daughter. The only problem was that once Buffy was out of the house she didn't know where to go to shop. Hollywood was only three hours away and it was early enough that she could spend the day shopping on Rodeo but she really didn't feel like driving. Besides, while she was grateful for the credit card she knew that a thousand dollars wouldn't buy a whole lot on Rodeo.

Now seemed as good a time as any to check out the Sunnydale mall, although she wasn't exactly sure there _was_ a mall. She had walked about a block before she was nearly taken out by a crazy guy on a skateboard.

"Sorry, don't know how to stop!" He yelled out before crashing in somebody's yard. "Are you ok?"

"Shouldn't I ask you that?" She stayed where she was as the skateboarder walked over to her. Judging by his clothes and obvious hobby she assumed he was around her age.

"The only thing that's hurting is my self-esteem. You just moved here right?" Skater boy asked.

"Yes, I'm Buffy Summers."

"Xander Harris. I saw you moving in the other day." He paused for a moment before elaborating. "I'm not a stalker, I meant that I was on my way to my friend's house and it was hard to miss the big U-Haul."

"I wasn't worried." Buffy wasn't sure how long this conversation as going to last and she was itching to do so something besides stand there. "I know this might be weird and all but I was going to the mall, if there is one, and maybe you could show me where it is?"

"No problem. It's not a really big mall but it gets the job done around here. Me and Will where there yesterday, actually, and they had a sale at the skate store. That's where I decided I wanted to be a skater."

"Is it too late to get a refund?" Buffy joked.

"Maybe I'll stop in and talk to them about that."

They continued walking the few blocks to the mall and Buffy filled Xander in on where she was from, why she moved here, and where she was going to school. In exchange Xander excitedly told her they would be going to the same school and that he should meet his friend Will.

"Does he skate as bad as you do?"

"Who?" Xander asked.

"Will?"

"Oh, no. Her name is actually Willow and she doesn't skate. Her parents are really strict Jews and they probably think it's wrong. She has to come over to my house every Christmas just to watch Charlie Brown."

"Poor kid. Is this the mall?" Buffy stared at the surprisingly large two story structure, impressed that such a small town had a decent sized mall.

"That it would be. Don't take it personally if I don't keep you company, but I don't find waiting while you girls try on clothes that much fun."

"It's all good." Buffy assured him as she looked around, a bit awkward about how to say goodbye.

"So if you want tomorrow Will and I can wait for you and show you around school." Xander explained where he and Willow would be and told Buffy he would see her tomorrow before he took off for the skate store.

All in all, Buffy had a very productive day with the back-to-school shopping and the new friend she hopped she had made. When Monday morning rolled around she was only slightly nervous despite attempting to assure her mother and herself that she wasn't. She dressed in her favorite, faded pair of True Religion jeans and a plain wife beater, forgoing all the new clothes she bought yesterday. She may be crazy, but the jeans and t-shirt where somewhat of a security blanket for her. Plus, she knew she looked damn cute in that outfit.

After talking her mother into dropping her off at school, Buffy found Xander under the huge, and only, tree he told her about the day before. She assumed that the redhead next to him was Willow.

Before she had reached Xander and Willow a confident brunette intercepted her path.

"Hi! I'm Cordelia and you're new, right?" The chocolate haired girl, apparently at the top of the popularity chain, bubbled.

"Yea, I'm Buffy. I just moved from-"

"LA, I know." Cordelia interrupted. "I can tell by your lack of dorky clothes. Hardly anybody in Sunnydale can afford True Religion, well except for me, of course."

"Really." Buffy dead-panned, unimpressed by this girl. "Sorry to cut this short, but I'm meeting some people."

"Oh, tell me who they are and I"ll tell you if they're worth it." Somehow, Buffy figured that Xander Harris and his friend Willow wouldn't register on Cordelia's cool list, but her brain didn't get that message to her mouth in time. When Cordelia's face dropped slightly Buffy wasn't at all surprised. "Nobody will talk to you if you hang out with those losers."

"I don't know either of them yet, but I'll be the one that decides if they're losers or not."

"Hey, don't say I wasn't trying to warn you."

"Tell you what, I'll pretend I never even talked to you." Buffy clearly insulted her, but Cordelia chose to see it as a favor. The last thing Cordelia needed was some new girl, so obviously a nerd trying to wear cool clothes, to spread it around that they were bestest buds. Her stock wouldn't suffer, she knew, but all the same it would be incredibly annoying.

Buffy moved around Cordelia and completed her journey to the giant tree. She smiled at Xander, who nudged the redhead to let her know they had company.

"Buffy!" He said, slightly surprised that she was still talking to him after talking to Cordelia and hearing god only knows what.

"Hey." Buffy nodded.

"Hi, I'm Willow Rosenberg, Xander told me about you." Willow seemed nice, if not a little on the scholar-nerd line. "Well, not a whole lot since he didn't know that much, but he said you were nice."

"Great." Buffy decided instantly that while Xander and Willow were not the type of people she would hang out with in LA, they were more genuine then Cordelia, and that was what she needed. The bell rang shortly after Willow looked at Buffy's class list and the trio proceeded to their classes. With the exception of home room, Buffy shared all her morning classes with either Xander or Willow or both. Much to her dissatisfaction, Cordelia also happened to be in most of those classes. After weighing her lunch options, eating alone or eating with Xander and Willow, Buffy decided the latter was a better deal. They helped her by pointing out which foods might leave her with a funky stomach and which foods were probably not up to code. That left only a pre-packaged yogurt and an almost brown banana for lunch.

Buffy went to her sixth period class without her new friends but overall satisfied that she didn't have the same pain as the students who didn't know which foods to eat or not to eat. Students at Sunnydale High obviously didn't realize that being early to class was not as cool as they thought, thus when Buffy finally walked in there was only one table left. On one side of the table sat a male with bleach blonde hair and a plain black t-shirt and matching pants, who was either dead or seriously asleep. Walking to the empty desk, Buffy ignored Cordelia and her friends snickers as she made her way to the back of the room. She sat down and looked around at the other students, ultimately ending up staring at her table mate, secure in the fact that he was sleeping and wouldn't notice her rudeness. It came as a shock when he opened his eyes and stared back at her a few minutes later.

"What?" He asked in an apparent, very sexy British accent.

"Oh, sorry." Buffy muttered, looking elsewhere for a minute before looking at her partner to see if he was sleeping. She was surprised to find him staring at her now.

"Name's Spike, what's yours, love?"

"Buffy. What kind of a name is Spike?" For the second time that day Buffy's brain was moving slower then her mouth.

"It's not like I had much of a choice in my name. Besides, what kind of a name is Buffy?"

"Point taken." Buffy replied and decided to leave it alone for now.

For the rest of the period Buffy avoided looking at Spike and concentrated on the teacher, a task that proved to be a lot harder then she imagined. She was grateful when the bell rang and she could spring out of her chair into the hall, however she wasn't prepared to have Spike stroll up along side of her.

"So I was thinking you and me might check out the Bronze?"

"Uh...what's the Bronze?" Buffy looked around for Willow or Xander, hoping for an easy out instead of answering his question.

"It's the only club in town. It can be lame sometimes but for the most part it's a pretty alright right place."

"Oh, I see. But I'm busy tonight, ya know, still unpacking and all that."

"How about Friday night then?" Spike wasn't about to give up on the first hot girl he'd seen at Sunnydale High since he moved here two years ago.

"I have plans Friday." Buffy lied.

"Saturday then, and if you say no I'll never smile again."

"Spike, I don't know you at all but you seem like a great friend to have. Right now, I'm just more concentrated on adjusting and making friends then looking for a date."

"Friends, love? Well that's a piece I wasn't expecting to hear, most girls fall all over me."

"I'm not most girls. Anyway, I've gotta go."

Buffy spotted Xander and Willow and hurried to catch up with them. Relating her story about Spike, Buffy went to her seventh class with her two newest friends. All in all, her first day of school hadn't been as bad as she'd prepared herself for. Apparently, moving to Sunnydale wasn't as horrible as it first appeared.


	2. Chapter 2

**Angels Fall - Chapter Two**

Disclaimer: Same as before. Joss and the rest of the boys (like the 'grr...arrg' guy) own the characters and all the rights. I'm not making any money from this...sadly...so there's no reason to sue anyway.

Authors Notes: This is Chapter Two of...well I'm not sure how many chapters yet. Did I mention this is a three _part_ story? Well, if not then you know now. Hope you like it so far, please let me know either way. Bad reviews are always better then none at all right? Enjoy!

One more disclaimer: The lyrics in this story are from the new (and seriously fabulous!) James Bond movie. Check out the song (legally downloaded, of course right? Yea...) _You Know My Name_ by Chris Cornell.

* * *

The week went by surprisingly fast and Buffy, Xander, and Willow seemed to grow into a pattern as if they were friends since diapers. Friday night rolled around and Buffy found herself wearing a very cute black skirt, a white tank top, and a black crochet top over the shirt as she walked to Willow's house.

When she got there she knocked and waited a few seconds before she heard Willow clomping down the stairs. One look at her new friend told her that Willow was in serious need of fashion advice, and Buffy was more then happy to help.

"Well, we've got time." Buffy said and watched Willow's face light up with appreciation. Buffy followed Willow to her room and raided her closest, looking for something that wasn't down-right shocking but also didn't scream good-girl. They finally decided on a pair of ripped jeans, which Willow didn't realize was actually in style, and a pink tank top.

"Thanks, Buffy." Willow said as she looked in the mirror.

"Not a problem, I love dressing people." Buffy sat down on the bed and looked around the room. "So is there any particular reason outfit choice was so important tonight?"

"Oh...well, you know...it's just that people go to the bronze...um, boys I mean. And...um..." Willow started to stutter and then stopped herself.

"That boy's name doesn't happen to be Xander does it?"

Willow looked alarmed for a second and then decided that she could trust Buffy. "Yea, sort of."

"I knew it!" Buffy exclaimed, excitedly. "Well, not actually _knew_ it in the sense that I was positive, but I had a feeling."

"Too bad Xander doesn't. All he can see is you."

"That's so not true." Buffy paused and took a moment to look at Willow who had both eye brows raised. "Ok, maybe a little. But tonight there is no way he's going to be looking at me because you look hot."

"Really?"

"Definitely a hottie."

"Ok, let's go."

The girls decided to take Willow's black Ion to the Bronze where Xander was waiting for them. They walked into the crowded club and Willow led her to were she and Xander usually sat. Buffy looked around the club taking in the mediocre band that you would have thought was as great as Aerosmith by the crowd's enthusiastic dancing.

"You ladies look great tonight." Xander told them. "Can I buy the two prettiest chicks here something to drink?"

"Anything with a little kick to it?" Buffy said before she realized that Xander and Willow, as endearing as they were, were not into drinking whether it was underage or not. "How about a latte?"

"Same for me. Thanks." Willow said without actually realizing what she had agreed to, she so too busy being enamored by Xander.

Shortly after Xander brought their drinks back Buffy became aware of a pair of chocolate eyes watching her. She dared herself to make direct eye contact and was a little surprised when the man didn't look away. She didn't avert her gaze, instead taking in his intimidating height and dark hair, broad shoulders and the muscles in his arms that could only be described as guns.

"Who is that?" She asked nobody in particular. Willow and Xander both looked around trying to figure out who she was looking at.

Willow spotted him first and rejoiced for a moment that Buffy was definitely not gunning for Xander by the way she so visibly expressed interest in the other man.

Xander followed Willow's gaze and rolled his eyes when he saw Angel standing in the corner, openly and, he thought, rudely staring at Buffy. "You don't want any of that, trust me. Angel graduated around four years ago and there's all kinds of stories about how he was in jail for assault and now he's on probation. He's messed up."

Buffy didn't seem to register any of what Xander said instead she looked away once Angel started to make his way towards their table.

"Hey." Angel greeted them softly, his smoldering eyes only seeing Buffy.

"Hey yourself." Buffy said before taking a sip of the hot latte. There was a tense moment of silence as neither Buffy or Angel said anything. Even with the lack of words being exchanged, though, the chemistry between the two was undeniable and Xander's spirits sunk a little at the realization.

"So did you need something?" Buffy finally said, breaking the spark-filled silence.

"No." Angel continued to stare at her and Buffy later told Willow it was as if he was looking at her like he knew what was underneath her clothes.

"Ok." Buffy was officially knocked off her game by the guy. _Who the hell is he, anyway?_ She thought.

"Dance with me?" He finally asked her, still never acknowledging anybody else in the crowded club.

"Sure." She slid off the tall stool and took Angel's extended hand. She was well aware of the way everybody seemed to separate and let them through as they made their way to

the center of the floor. Buffy smirked slightly when she heard Cordelia, who was dancing with some meathead looking guy, gawk in surprise. "Angel, everybody is staring."

"Are you surprised?" He asked while sliding his arms around her waist. Buffy's body trembled slightly when his fingers grazed the small strip of bared skin. Angel couldn't resist saying something. "Nervous?"

His question caught Buffy off guard and she didn't have time to think. "Yes."

"You should be. Every girl in here would love to be the one in my arms right now."

Buffy raised her eyebrows and tried to figure out if he was serious. Either he was joking with her, or he was seriously full of himself. If Buffy had to bet, she'd guess it was a little of both if not leaning more towards the latter. However, his attitude did her on slightly. _Very_ slightly.

_If you take a life do you know what you'll give? _

_Odds are, you won't like what it is _

_When the storm arrives, would you be seen with me? _

_By the merciless eyes of deceit? _

_I've seen angels fall from blinding heights _

_But you yourself are nothing so divine _

_Just next in line _

_Arm yourself because no one else here will save you _

_The odds will betray you _

_And I will replace you _

_You can't deny the prize it may never fulfill you _

_It longs to kill you _

_Are you willing to die? _

_The coldest blood runs through my veins _

_You know my name _

_If you come inside things will not be the same _

_When you return to the night _

_And if you think you've won _

_You never saw me change _

_The game that we all been playing _

_I've seen diamonds cut through harder men _

_Than you yourself _

_But if you must pretend _

_You may meet your end _

_Arm yourself because no-one else here will save you _

_The odds will betray you _

_And I will replace you _

_You can't deny the prize it may never fulfill you _

_It longs to kill you _

_Are you willing to die? _

_The coldest blood runs through my veins _

_Try to hide your hand _

_Forget how to feel _

_Forget how to feel _

_Life is gone with just a spin of the wheel _

_Spin of the wheel _

_Arm yourself because no-one else here will save you _

_The odds will betray you _

_And I will replace you _

_You can't deny the prize it may never fulfill you _

_It longs to kill you _

_Are you willing to die? _

_The coldest blood runs through my veins _

_You know my name _

The song wasn't slow by any means but that didn't stop Angel from pulling Buffy more tightly to him and barely moving. More then once Buffy, not sure where to focus her gaze, glanced at Angel only to find him studying her intently. Deciding to pretend she wasn't so nervous, she stared back at Angel for a moment, but he won the staring contest hands down.

The song, a few seconds over four minutes, felt as thought it was never going to end. Angel, she decided, might be extremely fun to look at but he was seriously _intense_ to the point that Buffy wondered if he needed to be slightly medicated. Finally the song ended and Buffy wiggled out of Angel's arms.

"Thanks." she said, feeling retarded and unsure of what to say. She figured best practice would be to lie, "We should do that again sometime."

She started walking away when he grabbed her upper arm and twirled her around. Dramatically, more dramatic then Buffy cared for in fact, he kissed her hard and didn't leave any questions as to how much he wanted her. _Maybe, _she thought, _lying gave him the wrong message._ His mouth was hard and greedy against hers and she struggled to bring one hand up and push against him. Succeeding in pushing him away, he backed off and looked at her, his lust for her apparent in his eyes.

If Buffy had only known exactly why Angel was currently unattached she might have decided against dancing with him and leading him on. Because Angel was very serious in everything he did, and when he found something he liked he worked like hell to keep it. For example, his last girlfriend could tell you how much she enjoyed all the attention at first but then became increasingly worried as his intensity developed to the point of being stalker-scary. Well, she could tell you, that is, if she was still alive...Not saying he did it, you see they never had enough evidence. But the town talked, and it was too bad that Buffy never heard what they talked about.


	3. Chapter 3

Angels Fall - Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I didn't own any of the characters during the first two chapters and unfortunately that hasn't changed for this chapter. And still, sadly, haven't made any money from this...course I haven't tried either.

Authors Notes: So, in case you missed the title, this is Chapter Three! Whoohoo! Aren't you more excited then a fat kid in a candy store? Hope you're still leaving me lots of reviews cause I'm a review whore. Please tell me if you like the direction this story is going. And thanks for being patient with this WIP.

* * *

Monday came way to earlier for the trio and when they met at school in their usual spot by the only tree on campus nobody felt like talking to much. It wasn't until after third period that they finally woke up enough to carry a conversation. Of course, it was no surprise that Willow's topic of choice was the dance Buffy shared with Angel.

"So you never said how it was." Willow declared as they walked down the crowded halls. Painfully aware of how the boys looked at Buffy and ignored the redhead all together, Willow tried to focus on the conversation and not the lack of attention she was receiving.

"Oh, you know." Buffy said with obvious disinterest, which annoyed Willow slightly. Buffy wasn't all about bragging about how many boys she could bag, but she also wasn't modest. She was just...not interested and Willow felt very much like a school-girl loser compared to Buffy.

"Yea, I so know what you mean." She lied and vowed not to bring it up again unless Buffy said something that invited such a conversation.

"So, I'm thinking we should go Bronzing again tonight." Xander told the ladies, though his eyes mostly focused on Buffy. It was, he felt, as though he was asking her out on a date only since she didn't know how he felt he could pretend without actually feeling rejected if, or rather when, she shot him down.

"I don't know, Xan." She told him. "I kind of slacked off at my old school and now I really need to play catch up."

"Oh!" Willow gushed excitedly. "I can so help you with that! We can be study buddies, and use fun little color coded note cards and I know how to make the best flash cards for stuff like English and-"

"Whoa there, Will." Buffy said but smiled to let Willow know just how much she adored her at the moment. Why couldn't she meet people like this in LA? Oh wait, La La Land, enough said. "I'm all about the study-buddy thing, but color coded note cards?"

Willow smiled back. "Too much?"

Buffy nodded. "Slightly. But you're more then welcome to come over and help me with History tonight if you want. The past is just so...irrelevant to now, ya know?"

This time it was Willow's turn to shake her head. Before she could say anything, however, Xander piped in as he was determined not to be left out of anything, boring or otherwise. "I'm there too. I'll be snack guy. Cheese-doodles ok with you guys?"

Buffy walked into her sixth hour class alone as usual, as usual the last in the room. She figured it didn't matter if she was the first or the last however, she was destined to sit next to Spike until the cows came home.

"Hey." She greeted Spike, letting her books drop onto the table and startling the bleach blonde bad boy. Of course, she decided, his British accent only made him seem punk rather then bad ass.

"Loud enough?" He asked her, shifting in his seat to make more room for her at the table. Aw, see Spike really does care even if he doesn't want people to know he actually is polite.

"It's after noon, time to wake up anyway." Buffy settled down next to him and opened her book, pretending to study. That lasted for about five minutes before Buffy gave up. She might be caring and protective and all that, but lets face it her attention spat was that of a two year old and she wasn't going to deny it. "Did you have a fun weekend?"

"It was ok. Went to the Bronze on Friday and I saw this jerk and some blond chick just about in each others pants on the dance floor though." Spike told her, cutting straight to the chase.

Buffy was sure he was talking about her dance with Angel but she chose to ignore that for the time being. "Really? How tacky." She told him, smiling to let him know that she knew who he was implying.

"You're telling me." He returned. "So what did you do this weekend?"

"Little of this, little of that. Went to the Bronze too, ya know. Decided that next time I'll have to bring a few more friends."

"Yea, like who?"

Before Buffy had a chance to respond the bell rang. Deciding to play a tease, she shrugged her shoulders as if she wasn't sure yet. The class flew by surprisingly fast and, not so surprisingly, Spike slept through most of it. Buffy did the good student thing taking notes to help and hoped Willow would be proud of her efforts. Of course, the whole time she was taking notes she couldn't help but let her thoughts wander off to her dance with Angel.

She hadn't thought about it much since Friday night. After his kiss she had found Xander and Willow and told them she needed to go home, she suddenly wasn't feeling the club scene. Xander and even Willow, despite both of them lacking in the romance knowledge department, weren't completely stupid as to what was going on. Both of them, however, had more tact then to mention it unless Buffy brought it up so they all agreed the club was boring and went back to Buffy's house. Her house, when they got there, was still full of boxed items and much to Xander's dismay, the giant tv was not the first thing Buffy unpacked in her room. Deciding this was unacceptable, the trio set up Buffy's tv and then sat down to watch crappy Lifetime Movie Network shows. Of course, Buffy didn't mention this part to Spike. She wasn't embarrassed, but it was more fun to torture him into thinking she was out all night getting wild and crazy with who knew how many guys.

The bell finally rang and Buffy jumped out of her seat only to find Spike's arm wrap around her waist and pull her back down onto his lap. Paying no attention to the teacher or other students, Spike kissed her until she was dizzy. Unlike with Angel, however, Spike's kiss didn't seem angry and demanding. It was more of a lazy, been-waiting-to-do-that kiss. And, in case there was any doubt in Buffy's mind as to what kind of kiss it really was, Spike cleared that up when he released her.

"I was dreaming of doing that this entire hour, love." Spike told her. Buffy was just about to say something along the lines of 'wow' when Spike cut her off and added. "Of course, real life was slightly disappointing compared to my dreams."

The bell for the next period had already rang but Buffy stayed standing where she was, one hand on her hip and an eyebrow arched. "Really?"

"Well yea. Cause you know, girlie, in my dreams you were kissing me...naked...and on top of me." Spike gathered his books nonchalantly and sauntered out of the room. It took everything Buffy had not to run after him, though for what reason she was unsure. _So much for putting buds before studs_, she thought as she hurried to her next class, luckily without Spike.

Buffy and her mother had spent hardly any time together since they had moved to Sunnydale. Joyce was busy running the new gallery and, frankly, her boring history stuff didn't exactly move Buffy the way it so obviously did the older Summers. That night, however, Joyce decided enough was enough and she and Buffy sat down to enjoy a real family meal.

"This is really good, Mom." Buffy told her, digging into the lemon chicken and rice that filled her plate.

"Thanks." Joyce said, taking credit for the meal that all she really did was open a box, add some water and chicken, and throw in the oven. "So how is school going?"

"Oh, you know, it's school. Doesn't matter if it's in LA or a one Starbucks town like Sunnydale. Always the same drama."

"Well as long as your studies don't slack. This is your last year Buffy, and I know we talked about you not going to a university right away, but maybe if you worked hard this year you could apply for the spring semester at a four year school."

"Yea," Buffy said between chain-shoveling the food into her mouth. "I'll think about it."

"Oh, I forgot!" Joyce nearly jumped up from the table to run into the kitchen. She came back with a vase full of long stemmed roses in a beautiful glass vase.

"Mom!" Buffy gushed. "These are so nice. What are they for? And thank you!"

"Oh, no. They're not from me, silly. I didn't read the note but they're for you because the man that brought them asked for you."

Buffy picked up the note, glanced at it quickly, and then frowned. "Mom, what did the guy look like?"

"Oh, I don't remember too much. Tall, that's for sure. I think he had brown hair. But that's about all I can tell you. Why?"

Buffy didn't say anything, instead she read the card a little closer and more slowly.

_Remember me? I can't forget you, Buffy. _

Slightly psycho, Buffy realized, only now beginning to wonder if she should have listened to Xander's warning about Angel being somebody she _shouldn't _want to associate with.

"Thanks for dinner, mom." Buffy mumbled distractedly, standing up and heading to her room. "Gotta study." She lied.

Reaching the top of the stairs and turning towards her room, Buffy suddenly felt a chill go down her spine. Had she told him her name? She thought she had, but now she wasn't positive. She knew for sure, however, that she didn't give him her phone number let alone her address and they just moved to town so it wasn't like he could look in a phone book. She walked a little faster to her room then, closing the door quickly and locking it, and then turning to make sure that the window was locked.

Only it wasn't...a slight breeze blew her curtains around and the window was wide open...and she was one-hundred percent positive that nobody had opened that window since they moved into the house.


End file.
